The Science of Yoga – Moods

Moods

In the early 2000’s I trained in Anusara yoga, a type of yoga that was characterized by “Opening the Heart”.  In the teacher training manual, its founder – John Friend, stated that there were two main reasons that people did yoga: the first was because they felt great and enjoyed expressing themselves physically through the practice of yoga, and the second was that they didn’t feel good and that they did yoga to help themselves feel better physically as well as mentally and emotionally. In the ensuing years I have always looked at why people do yoga and the answers always seem to fit into one of these two categories.

This chapter examines many inquiries into how yoga can lift moods and refresh the human spirit. These studies begin with the muscles and how yoga can relax them, goes on to study the blood and how yoga breathing can reset its chemical balance and eventually zeroes in on the subtleties of the nervous system and how yoga can fine tune its status.

Relaxing the muscles

One of the things I have observed in my years of teaching yoga is that people generally have a hard time relaxing.  If I adjust a student in Savasana, I often find that they have an inability to let go of their muscles; there is a stiffness in the body, a tension in the muscles.

In 1929 Edmund Jacobson, a physiologist, wrote a book called Progressive Relaxation.  He developed a machine to measure tonus – the normal state of slight muscular contraction that aids posture and readies the body for action.  His technique centered on patients sequentially tensing and relaxing each body part, concentrating on the contrast. This helped people to feel where they were holding tension and consciously allowed them to learn to relax those muscles.

In yoga class, different muscles are engaged and released as we move into and out of postures creating a similar effect.  Often students need this in order to be able to let go and be still for Savasana.

Blood – Pranayama

In the 1930’s Kovoor T. Behanan studied religion, philosophy and psychology at Yale.  He moved back to his native India to study yoga at Gune’s ashram (see chapter 1).  He was interested in studying the breath.

Resting adults breathe anywhere from 10 to 20 times a minute.  But yoga breathing practices such as Ujjayi, are much slower.

Behanan studied how slow breathing increases calm alertness and raw awareness and fast styles of breathing tend to excite.  He proved what the ancient yogis knew: you can use the breath to alter your state of mind.

Interestingly, the slowing down of the breath calmed the mind, but it also causes a retardation of mental function.  It does not induce superhuman powers as the ancient yogis claimed, but it does produce an extremely pleasant feeling of quietude.  Repetition of mantra also slows the breath and produces similar feelings.

Slow yogic breathing does not increase the level of oxygen in the blood, it is aerobic exercise that changes the oxygen levels.

Fast breathing can create feelings of exhilaration, but it can also upset the carbon dioxide balance in the blood which can cause light-headedness, blurred vision, tingling in the hands, spasms in the muscles and can make some people pass out.  It should be done with care.

Nervous system – The accelerator and brake

Our autonomic nervous system is bifurcated:  the sympathetic side excites us to fight or take flight, this could be called our accelerator, the parasympathetic side encourages us to rest and digest, this could be called the brake.  A yoga practice should be a combination of applying the accelerator and the brake.  This is similar to the technique of progressive relaxation, first tense and then relax the muscles to compare and contrast the two states of being.  Postures such as Standing Poses, Handstand, Headstands and Backbends excite; Seated Poses, Forward Bends and Shoulder Stand relaxes.  A well balanced yoga class can create a sense of relaxation and well being.  Most people live in a state of stress and tension with an inability to relax. The demands of survival mean that the body favors the accelerator.

There are studies on a neurotransmitter called GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid.  Low levels of Gaba have been linked to depression.  A study published in 2007 showed that GABA levels tended to be higher in yoga practitioners as compared to people who walked for exercise – which was seen as having the same metabolic expenditure as yoga.  Gaba levels were higher in those yoga practitioners who were experienced and who practiced regularly showing that yoga has some benefit in uplifting moods.

Amy Weintraub, a well-known yoga teacher wrote a book called:   Yoga for Depression.  In it, she describes how her yoga practice  saved her life.

Yoga is a discipline that succeeds at smoothing the ups and downs of emotional life.  It uses relaxation, breathing and postures to bring about an environment of inner bending and stretching.  The current evidence suggests that yoga can reduce despair and hopelessness to the point of saving lives.

This is the upside of yoga.  The downside is that it can do great harm.  That is the subject of the next chapter.

The Science of Yoga by William Broad – Fit Perfection

Fit Perfection

Many yoga teachers purport yoga as the only form of exercise you need to do.  And they often see their way of yoga as the only way.

In his book Bikram Yoga, Bikram Choudry (The founder of Hot Yoga), is quoted:  “So many Americans ruin their bodies by blindly running around ‘exercising’ and playing sports.  I tell my students, ‘No barbells, no dumbbells, no racket.’  Games are ok for children, for recreation and to teach them sportsmanship.  But after that, you must give up trying to put a little round ball in a hole all the time.”

Unfortunately, Bikram is not a reliable witness to anything at this time as he is charged with financial fraud and sexual misconduct.   The last news I read about Bikram suggests that he is hiding from prosecution and that his location is unknown.  But still, he has made superlative claims about what yoga can do for you.  I love what Bikram says, not because I think he is right, but I find the boldness of his claims laughable and the superlatives he uses immediately make me suspicious of anything he says.  But there is a part of me that understands how those same bold claims inspire people and remove any ambiguity.  Often we are so tired of making and weighing decisions that it is a breath of fresh air when someone says, unequivocally, “Do this”!  The danger here, however, is always one step away from the Dixie cup with the Kool-Aid!

William Broad on Bikram:

“In great detail, Choudhury explains why his yoga is superior to every other type of physical workout and why it deserves your attention – and perhaps most important – your money.  Remarkably, he rejects all other styles of yoga.  A standard estimate for the number of people who do yoga is twenty million (as of 2012), and Choudhury happily cites that number as representing a world of misguided souls.

“’Bogus Yoga’ is what he calls their practice.  He ridicules other approaches as watered down to accommodate American weakness and inflexibility.  Among the competition he scoffs at Kundalini, Ashtanga and Vinyasa (“which never existed in India”), as well as Iyengar (“he uses so many props in his method that his method is called ‘The Furniture Yoga’ in India’)  The newer brands, he added, are even more ridiculous. You’ve got Easy Yoga, Sit-at-Your-Desk Yoga, Yoga for Beginners, Yoga for Dummies, Yoga for Pets, and Babaar Yoga. It’s all Mickey Mouse Yoga to me.”

“The false prophets, he charges, shirk their responsibilities to ancient tradition and cheat students out of the ‘perfect life’ keeping them from the rewards of ‘optimum health and maximum function’.  In contrast, he portrays his own style in cartoonish superlatives:  ’You’ll become a superman or a superwoman.’” 

Will Bikram yoga make you a superman or a super woman?  Is Yoga all you need to keep fit?  This is the question William Broad seeks to answer in this chapter.  First he defines the question as to how do you measure fitness.  He quotes the studies and the scientists and institutions that did the work.  He follows the evolution of how science defined physical fitness.  It starts with vital capacity and vital index to VO2 max and aerobic capacity.  He talks about how hard it is to study yoga primarily because there is no money in it for large institutions and also because of the vast differences in the various styles of yoga.  He describes some of the studies that were done and are widely quoted but which have very little real scientific significance either because of the small size of the sample, the lack of a control group in the study and/or because some of the studies have been hailed as fact even though they were self published and not submitted to peer reviewed journals.  He doesn’t state this, but it is so easy to find an article on the internet that supports whatever claim you would like to believe.  Very often we read these things but don’t necessarily vet their veracity.

At the end of all of this, the conclusion is that yoga equaled or surpassed exercise in such things as: improving balance, reducing fatigue, decreasing anxiety, cutting stress, lifting moods, improving sleep, reducing pain, lowering cholesterol and raising the quality of life both socially and on the job.

But the scientists also spoke of a conspicuous limitation for an activity that had long billed itself as a path to physical superiority.  They noted that the benefits of yoga ran through all categories “except those improving physical fitness.”

While yoga may not be the only form of physical exercise you need, it’s most important benefit may be the fact that it can alter your moods.  And that is the subject of the next chapter.

Poses for the Month of December - The Year in Review

2019 Poses in Review

The time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s are so jam packed and busy, I often feel compelled to teach restorative poses just so people can have a few minutes of relaxation.  That doesn’t mean that the entire class will be restorative, it just means that we might start or end with a restorative pose or two.  In the middle, I plan on reviewing the poses that we went over this year.  Here they are in the order in which we did them:

January – Sarvangasana or Shoulder Stand

Read about Shoulder Stand here.

February – Sirsasana I or Head Stand on forearms

Read about Head Stand here.

March – Navasana or Boat Pose

Read about Boat Pose here.

April – Bakasana or Crow

Read about Crow Pose here.

May – Svarga Dvijasana or Bird of Paradise

Read about Bird of Paradise here.

June – Hanumanasana or Split

Read about Split here.

July – Parivrtta Parsva Konasana or Revolved Side Angle Pose

Read about Revolved Side Angle Pose here.

August- Visvamitrasana or Side Plank with lower leg lifted

Read about Visvamitrasana here.

September – Urdhva Dhanurasana or Wheel

Read about Wheel here.

October – Prasarita Padottanasana to Sirsasana II or Wide Leg Forward Fold to Tripod Head Stand

Read about the transition from Wide Legged Forward Fold to Headstand here.

November – Astavakrasana or Eight Crooked Places Pose

Read about Astavakrasana here.

December – I hope you enjoy this year in review!  Also, if you have any requests for poses that you would like to work on next year, let me know in the comments below.

Revolved Side Angle Pose as a prep for Astavakrasana

Revolved Side Angle

In order to do this arm balance you need the flexibility to bend your front leg to 90 degrees in Warrior I, get your hand to the floor inside of your front leg in Side Angle Pose, have the strength to do Caturanga and have the rotational flexibility to do a twist.  I have talked about the other aspects of this pose in previous blog posts. This week, I’ll talk about twisting.

Let’s look at Revolved Side Angle as a prep pose for Astavakrasana.  In Revolved Side Angle Pose, just as in Side Angle Pose, it is important to bend the front leg to 90 degrees.   It is much easier to twist and get your elbow or arm to the opposite knee when the front leg is deeply bent. Notice, how in the picture, I have worked to get my bottom arm to the outside of the front leg

Because, Revolved Side Angle Pose is more related to Warrior I than it is to Side Angle Pose, we’ll start with Warrior I as the base.  This has to do with the fact that the hips are square to the front in Revolved Side Angle Pose and Warrior I rather than to the side as they are in Side Angle Pose.

For stability, let’s start with the back knee on the ground.  In this position it is easier to get the front leg bent to 90 degrees with the front thigh parallel to the floor.  Remember that a twist is defined as a movement between the hips and shoulders where one of those body parts stays stationary and the other part turns.  In this pose it’s the hips that are remaining stationary and the shoulders are turning.

From a low lunge position with your right leg forward, place your thumb into the hip crease of the forward leg to remind that hip to stay back and square as you rotate your torso.   On an inhalation, lift the left arm up into the air lengthening the left side of your body and on an exhalation, rotate your torso to the right brining the left elbow to the outside of the right knee.  Reach across your belly and grab your left ribs and encourage them to turn more to the right bringing your left ribs over your right thigh and trying to get your left armpit to your right knee.  Now, lengthen your spine so that the front of the body is as long as the back body, moving your right shoulder as far away from your right hip as possible.  Bring the hands in prayer in front of your heart with your left elbow or armpit outside of your right knee.  Every time you inhale create more length on the front body and every time you exhale explore your ability to rotate a little more.

Notice where your prayer hands are and lift the torso to bring the heart to the hands rather than allowing the hands to push to your right shoulder.

Stay for a few breaths with calm breathing and then try the pose to the other side. If your balance is good and you are ready, try coming into the pose a second time with your back knee lifted off of the floor in Crescent Warrior.  You can always do this version of the pose with your back heel against the wall for stability.

The rotation you develop in Revolved Side Angle Pose will help you with the rotation you need for Astavakrasana.

The Science of Yoga – Health

Health

This post summarizes the second chapter of William J. Broad's book:  The Science of Yoga.  This chapter describes yoga's transformation from a shady and esoteric past to a modern version based on the physical benefits of the practice.

The yoga of old differed from modern yoga in many ways:  Instruction was done in private rather than in group classes and relatively few women did yoga. But the most important difference centered on the lifestyles of the men who did yoga.

• “Yogis and holy men are potentially dangerous and an economic drain on society. “ – So says a sentence in William Broad’s chapter on Health.

• “Yogis were often vagabonds who engaged in ritual sex or showmen who contorted their bodies to win alms – even while dedicating their lives to high spirituality.”

• “Yogis were as much gypsies as circus performers.  They read palms, interpreted dreams and sold charms.  The more pious often sat naked – their beards uncut and hair matted – and smeared themselves with ashes from funeral pyres to emphasize the body’s temporality.”

• “Some sects had reputations as child snatchers.  To obtain new members, they would adopt orphans and, when the opportunity arose, buy or steal children.  Understandably, good families dreaded their presence.  At times bands of yogis would prey on trade caravans and descend on merchants to extort food and money.  When hired as guards, violent orders formed what we now would call protection rackets.”

• “Some yogis smoked ganja and ate opium.  Some carried begging bowls.  A British census put yogis under the heading of ‘miscellaneous and disreputable vagrants’.”

We all know that the word yoga means “union”.  But part of the yoga tradition centered on sex.  “Spiritually, the objective of the yogi was to achieve a blissful state of consciousness in which the male and female aspects of the universe merged into a realization of oneness.  The ancient yogis sought a divine state of consciousness ‘homologous to the bliss experienced in sexual orgasm’.”  This path was known as Tantra.

There was also a sect that practiced cannibalism.  While this was an exception, not the rule, it is a part of yoga’s past.

Another way that old yoga differs from modern yoga is in the postures, or asanas.  The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the holy book of the fifteenth century describes the earliest record we have of yoga postures.  Most of the book describes esoteric practices which focused on stimulation of the sexual organs and how to extend the duration of lovemaking.

Mr. Broad makes a distinction between the physical practice of yoga which came to the West and the religious practice of Hinduism.  Further back, in ancient times, postural yoga referred to nothing more than sitting in a relaxed position for meditation.

In the twentieth century, India’s elite became increasingly dissatisfied with British rule and sought to create a national identity that would unify the masses, counter notions of western superiority and forge the popular will to oust the hated foreigners.

This surge in nationalism sought to revive and modernize Hinduism as a foundation for Indian national identity.  Yoga was seen as one of the potential method for this process.  But, first, it’s act needed to be cleaned up.

In 1924, Jaganath G. Gune established something new, an ashram dedicated to the scientific study of yoga.  He began to do experiments on the exaggerated claims that surrounded yoga: stopping the heart, affecting blood pressure, etc.  He also declared that yoga was fit for women.

Gune had many admirers and patrons that helped him further his cause.  One was such patron came from the Mysore palace, a city and state in southern India.  The ruling family played a skillful role in the promotion of Hindu nationalism.  Like Gune, the Mysore palace sponsored a version of yoga that was far removed from the world of Tantra and eroticism.  For decades the royal family practiced an eclectic form of yoga that drew on Indian martial arts and wrestling as well as western gymnastics and physical fitness techniques.

In 1933 the Mysore Palace hired a teacher to run its yoga hall.  This man was Krishnamacharya who is famous for producing a number of gifted students who eventually made him history’s most influential figure in Hatha yoga’s modern rise.  His passion and ideas gave rise to the two most influential yoga teachers of our time:  Patthabi Jois who developed the system of Ashtanga yoga and B.K.S. Iyengar who was known for his attention to precision and alignment.

Mr. Iyengar had been sickly all of his life but used yoga to regain his health.  In 1936 Iyengar formed a relationship with a surgeon who became a friend, supported and a knowledgeable liaison to the world of human anatomy.

In 1947 Krishnamachary took in his first female student, who was also looking to yoga to cure a heart condition.  This woman became known as Indra Devi and was instrumental along with Iyengar and Jois in bringing yoga to the west.

From the influence of men like Gune and Krishnamacharya yoga began to shed the old emphasis on magic and eroticism and to focus instead on science and health.  In 1965 Iyengar published his book Light on Yoga which quickly became the how-to bible of Hatha yoga.

Since Iyengar’s time, yoga has been studied by science and a large number of findings have come out that support some of yoga’s claims:

• The physiological slowing from yoga can reduce stress, the heart rate and blood pressure

• Clinical studies show that patients who do yoga have fewer hospital visits, need less drug therapy and have a smaller number of serious coronary events

• Yoga improves balance which is important for seniors as falls are the leading cause of death by injury

• Yoga can slow the deterioration of the spine and keep it more flexible

• Yoga can have a positive influence on the immune system by stimulating the vagus nerve through the postures and slow breathing

• Yoga also influences the telomeres, the tips of the chromosomes, that have something to do with the aging of the cells.

• Yoga has cardiovascular benefits as studied and popularized by Dean Ornish

Yoga has gone from an ancient obsession with transcendence of the body to a modern crusade for a new kind of physicality.

Bound Side Angle Pose as a preparation for Astavakrasana

Bound Side Angle

Last week I talked about how Lizard Lunge was a prep for Astavakrasana.  And it is.  I am using this pose as a benchmark pose; meaning that it can tell you where you are and what you have to work on to get to the desired final pose.  In Astavakrasana, you need the flexibility of getting one knee up and over your shoulder.  You can see how close you are to doing that in Lizard Lunge.  Can you get your elbows to the floor?  If you can, then your knee is higher than your shoulder.  If you can’t, don’t worry and don’t try to force it.  Be patient and keep working on your Lizard.

Bound Side Angle is also one of those poses where you need your shoulder to be lower than your knee in order to be able to bind.   But that is not the first thing you have to look at.  The primary action is your ability to bend your front leg to 90 degrees. Before we look at Bound Side Angle Pose, let’s back up and look at the pieces that make up Bound Side Angle Pose.  Those pieces are:  Warrior II, Triangle, Side Angle and the hands in prayer behind the back (Pascima Namaskar).

Let’s start in Warrior II.  Can you bend your front knee so that the thigh is parallel to the floor?  Take an honest look at yourself in a mirror.  Is your front thigh parallel to the floor with your shin perpendicular?  If you can’t bend that deep (and keep your knee over your ankle), don’t try to force it.  Try putting a block, or two, under your front foot and see if that helps you.  You may have to play with that for a while, but eventually you can try it without the block.

The second standing pose is Triangle.  Eventually we are looking to be able to get the spine horizontal and the bottom hand on the floor.  Again, be patient.  Your bottom hand may need to rest on your leg or a block.  Watch your progress with the help of a mirror.  Look at your spine.  Keep it straight as you stretch towards the floor; don’t let it dome up in the middle.  Also, look to see that your torso is directly above the front leg, not in front of it.

Now it’s time to put Warrior II and Triangle together in Side Angle Pose.  Can you bend your front knee so that the thigh is horizontal and get your lower hand to the floor with the upper edge of your body from your back foot to your top hand in one straight line?  If you can, you are in full Side Angle Pose and you are ready to bind.  If you can’t, keep working on Warrior II and Triangle poses.

There is some separate arm work to do to prepare the shoulders for binding and that is getting your hands behind your back in prayer.  Let's start by looking at your ability to clasp your hands behind your back in Yoga Mudra.

This arm position stretches the front of the shoulders and is the same arm position you need for Bridge Pose and Shoulder Stand.

In Yoga Mudra we work the hands behind the back with the arms straight and then we can bend one elbow at a time and work the arms in Cow Face Posture (Gomukhasana).

If you cannot clasp your hands behind your back in Cow Face Posture, use a belt.

Once you can clasp your hands in Gomukhasana then begin working both hands behind your back in Reverse Prayer. If you can do that, you have all the necessary shoulder flexibility to bind in Bound Side Angle Pose.

To come into Bound Side Angle Pose first come into Side Angle Pose but place your bottom hand on the floor inside your front leg.  Raise your top arm straight up in the air, and if you need a belt to bind, then the belt should be in this top hand.  Bend your top arm back behind your waist as you dip your front shoulder below your front thigh.  Slide your bottom forearm under your front thigh and grab hold of your other hand or the belt.  Then bring your front buttock under you as you lean your upper body back against your bent leg.  This brings your body back into Side Angle position.  with your hands now clasped behind your back.

Getting your hands around your front thigh in Bound Side Angle Pose is a very similar action to getting your leg up over your shoulder for Astavakrasana.   You can always use a belt for Side Angle Pose until the day you can finally clasp and then you know that Astavakrasana is more attainable.  Keep working.  I'll see you in class!

The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards – by William Broad

Opening quote:

“ There is no subject which is so wrapped up in mystery and on which one can write whatever one likes without any risk of being proved wrong.”
-- I.K. Taimini, Indian scholar and chemist on the obscurity of yoga. 

Prologue

Yoga has become so mainstream these days.  It seems like everyone is doing it: from babies in the womb during their mother’s pre-natal yoga classes all the way up through senior citizens living in assisted living facilities and everyone in between.   It has become so popular here in the west that it has even included in the annual Easter Egg Roll at the Whitehouse since 2009.

In his book, William Broad, a lifelong yoga practitioner, sorts out the myth and the hyperbole from the traditions and what we really know about the history and practice of yoga.  People have made many claims about what yoga can do for our health and well-being over the years.  Science supports some of these claims, but many aspects of yoga’s famous healing powers come from story and legend rather than scientific fact.  This is partly due to the fact that a lot of research done on yoga was often a hobby or a sideline. There is not a lot of money for research in something that cannot be turned into an expensive pill or medical device.

As Mr. Broad dove into the scientific research that had been done on yoga, he ran into my teacher Mel Robin.  As a scientist for Bell Labs for 30 years, Mel also turned his keen scientific eye towards yoga.  He has written three books on the science behind the practice of yoga.  Mel is listed in the Who’s Who of yoga at the beginning of this book and Mr. Broad quotes his research throughout the book.

One of the reviews on the book’s jacket warns us: “The Science of Yoga is a wonderful read that any yoga practitioner thirsting for authenticity should study carefully before suiting up”  --David Gordon White, author of Kiss of the Yogini

One important fact that Mr. Broad points out is that yoga has no governing body.  There’s no hierarchy of officials or organizations meant to ensure purity and adherence to agreed upon sets of facts poses, rules and procedures, outcomes and benefits.  There is also no government oversight, no Safety Commission or Administration to ensure that yoga lives up to its promises.  This can be very confusing for the beginner and even for seasoned yogis.  You never really know if what you've read or been taught is something that is truly coming from the history of yoga, or if it is just what someone made up to suit their purposes.  This happens a lot and is not necessarily a bad thing.  Personally, I like studying within the Iyengar lineage.  They have a long history of tradition, practice and they also have a research institute to study the effects of yoga.

All yoga is basically Hatha Yoga which is a practice that centers on postures and breathing meant to strengthen the body and mind.  Separate from the practice of physical postures is the ethical and philosophical side of yoga and the religious aspect of Hinduism.

Yoga differs from most other forms of exercise in that it goes slow rather than fast emphasizing static postures and fluid motions.  Its low-impact nature puts less strain on the body than traditional sports making it appealing for a wide variety of ages.  The greatest emphasis is on regulating the breath and creating an awareness of the body position in space.  Advanced yoga encourages concentration on subtle energy flows.  Overall, compared to sports and other forms of Western exercise, yoga seems safer and the focus is not just on the physical; the practice also draws the attention inward.

The book is organized into the following chapters which follows the development of scientific interest over the decades:
Health
Fitness
Moods
Risk of Injury
Healing
Sex
Inspiration

So, read along with me as Mr. Broad sheds light on the risks and rewards of yoga.

Lizard Lunge as a preparation for Astavakrasana

Continuing with postures in the sequence for Astavakrasana, let’s look at Lizard Lunge.

In order to be able to do Astavakrasana you have to be able to get your knee onto the back of your arm when you are in a seated position.  In Lizard Lunge, you can see whether or not your shoulder is below your knee.

In this pose, the back leg is straight and the front leg bent with the shin perpendicular to the floor.  If you can easily get both forearms evenly on the ground, then chances are that you have the flexibility to do Astavakrasana.

In the beginning you start with your hands on the floor,

eventually lowering your elbows to blocks and finally to the floor.  It is harder to lower the inside elbow to the floor.

It is important to lower them both evenly.  You may have to back up until you are able to achieve this.  This may take a while.  If you are interested in doing Astavakrasana, you might want to practice Lizard Lunge every day until you can easily get your elbows to the floor.  This practice could unlock other poses for you as well such as Warrior I, Pigeon and Split.

In some of these photos, you can see that my back knee is on the floor.  In the beginning, you might need to bend your back leg.  Eventually, you may be able to keep the knee lifted and the back leg straight.

It is also important to maintain the length on the front body.  Your torso will round if you are reaching too hard to get the elbows to the floor.  Keep pressing down into the hands or forearms and lengthen your collar bones forward.  Draw your shoulder blades towards each other and down your back towards your waist rather than away from each other and down towards the floor.   As you would in Caturanga, don’t drop your head.  Keep your neck in line with the spine and the back of your head level with your upper back.

You may be tempted to let the front ankle roll out.  Some call this “Broken Pigeon”.

This often happens in the desire to get the elbows to the floor.  This could be a good variation when you are working towards poses with the legs externally rotated such as Pigeon or Seated Cobbler’s Pose.  But for now we are working on our ability to fold forward with one knee bent into our chest as in Marichyasana I.

For this pose, I prefer keeping the weight pressing down onto the inner edge of the foot and keeping the ankle straight.  If you need some play, it is better to let the knee and foot rotate out a few degrees, but I would only do this if I could not get my hands to the floor, not to get my elbows to the floor.  Be patient.  Don’t force the stretch.

The next step would be to come into Eka Hasta Bhujasana, or One Arm Leg Pressure Pose.

And from there into Astavakrasana

Continuing with postures in the sequence for Astavakrasana, let’s look at Lizard Lunge.In order to be able to do Astavakrasana you have to be able to get your knee onto the back of your arm when you are in a seated position.  In Lizard Lunge, you can see whether or not your shoulder is below your knee. In this pose, the back leg is straight and the front leg bent with the shin perpendicular to the floor.  If you can easily get both forearms evenly on the ground, then chances are that you have the flexibility to do Astavakrasana.In the beginning you start with your hands on the floor, eventually lowering your elbows to blocks and finally to the floor.  It is harder to lower the inside elbow to the floor.  It is important to lower them both evenly.  You may have to back up until you are able to achieve this.  This may take a while.  If you are interested in doing Astavakrasana, you might want to practice Lizard Lunge every day until you can easily get your elbows to the floor.  This practice could unlock other poses for you as well such as Warrior I, Pigeon and Split. In some of these photos, you can see that my back knee is on the floor.  In the beginning, you might need to bend your back leg.  Eventually, you may be able to keep the knee lifted and the back leg straight. It is also important to maintain the length on the front body.  Your torso will round if you are reaching too hard to get the elbows to the floor.  Keep pressing down into the hands or forearms and lengthen your collar bones forward.  Draw your shoulder blades towards each other and down your back towards your waist rather than away from each other and down towards the floor.   As you would in Caturanga, don’t drop your head.  Keep your neck in line with the spine and the back of your head level with your upper back.You may be tempted to let the front ankle roll out.  Some call this “Broken Pigeon”.This often happens in the desire to get the elbows to the floor.  This could be a good variation when you are working towards poses with the legs externally rotated such as Pigeon or Seated Cobbler’s Pose.  But for now we are working on our ability to fold forward with one knee bent into our chest as in Marichyasana I.For this pose, I prefer keeping the weight pressing down onto the inner edge of the foot and keeping the ankle straight.  If you need some play, it is better to let the knee and foot rotate out a few degrees, but I would only do this if I could not get my hands to the floor, not to get my elbows to the floor.  Be patient.  Don’t force the stretch.The next step would be to come into Eka Hasta Bhujasana, or One Arm Leg Pressure Pose. And from there into Astavakrasana

A Sequence to Prepare for Astavakrasana

Preparing for Astavakrasana

Here is a sequence you can work on to prepare for Astavakrasana:Start by doing a few of your favorite Sun Salutes to warm up.  Then try these poses in the following order:

1. Side Angle Pose. Work to get your bottom hand to the floor.

2. Lizard Lunge. Work to get your forearms to the floor with your shoulders lower than your knee. Notice the back of my head is not lower than my upper back!

3. Revolved Side Angle Pose. Work on getting your armpit outside of the opposite knee with your hand on the floor. This may take some time to achieve.

4. Boat Pose to build core strength for the arm balance.

5. "Revolved Boat" or Seated Astavakrasana. This gives you something to work on if you cannot do the arm balance. Understanding how your arm fits through your crossed legs and how you straighten your legs against your arm will help for the final pose.

6. Seated Baby Cradle to loosen the hip.

7. One Arm Leg Pressure pose. Work to get your knee up as high towards your shoulder as you can. With your knee clamped down against your arm, you press into your hands, draw your navel to your spine and lift yourself off of the floor. Once you are lifted, you cross your straight leg ankle over your bent leg ankle to squeeze your legs onto your arm. Then bend your elbows and tip forward like you are doing Caturanga and while pressing your top leg onto the back of your tricep as you squeeze your legs together and Voila, You are in the final posture! Or not. This may take some time.

8. Astavakrasana

Be patient with yourself as you work on these poses.  Understand the stage of each pose that you are in and work on your practice over time.  Progress can be imperceptible from one day to the next, but over time, the results can be pretty impressive.  Don't give up!